Armrests are widely used in motor vehicles to provide comfort to occupants. Armrests conventionally are provided adjacent driver and passenger seats in the first or front row of a vehicle. Armrests also can be provided in additional rows of seats such as a second row, a third row, etc. In certain vehicles, such as sports utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, minivans, and crossover-type vehicles, it is becoming increasingly common to find multiple additional rows of seats.
Seats in the second row and third row, for example, may be positioned on either side of a center console. A “center console” as used herein generally refers to the area between two seats situated in a row of seats, and optionally may include a middle seat, or be convertible into a middle seat. To maximize comfort to occupants, armrests are provided on the center console or other area between the seats, and are usable by passengers seated in that row of seats. Because occupants can differ significantly in height (e.g., child and adult), they have different requirements regarding use of an armrest. Therefore, armrest arrangements in which a single armrest is fixed at a particular height may be of limited utility to certain occupants.
In many cases, it is desirable to provide armrests for use by occupants in driver-side and passenger-side seats in a second or third row of seats, but also allow for use of a middle seat, where the armrests are normally mounted.
It is known to provide armrests pivotally mounted to a seat back. A “seat back” as used herein generally refers to the area in a row of seats on or adjacent to the backing of a seat, which may be angled relative to the seat or seat cushion, where the seat back encompasses any interior or exterior portion of this backing, including side portions thereof. For example, a pivotable armrest may be rotated from a stowed position in which the armrest is generally flush with the seat back to a use position in which the armrest is moved to a position generally perpendicular to the seat back and parallel to the vehicle seat. However, such pivoting armrests suffer from several drawbacks. First, a pivotable armrest typically is supported by the seat back, and can be subjected to high forces when an occupant's arm is resting on the structure. As such, the attachment point of the armrest body with the seat back must be reinforced to tolerate these substantial forces. Second, because a pivotable armrest often is configured to fit within the seat back in the stowed position, the maximum size of the armrest is limited by the size of the seat back, and the resulting armrest may be smaller than desired, and thus limit occupant comfort. Third, a pivotable armrest generally has a single height during use, and thus cannot accommodate occupants of different heights.
Such pivotable armrests are usually installed in a “second row” or “third row” of seats, such that a center console over which the armrests are arranged in the use position also can serve as a middle seat when the pivotable armrest is arranged in the stowed position.
It would be desirable to provide an armrest pivotally mounted to a seat back in a second or third row of seats, such that the armrest can be stowed in the seat back, and capable of accommodating occupants of different heights during use, where the armrest is supported by the vehicle seat, instead of being substantially supported by the seat back.